Famous people's places / Detroit – Downtown
Grinnell's Music Store
Closed – archive entry · 1981
Detroit's largest music and piano retailer for a century, whose flagship Albert Kahn–designed Woodward Avenue store still stands today as offices and shops.
01 / The story of this place
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Herbert, Clayton and Ira Grinnell opened a small music shop in Ann Arbor in 1880 and moved it to Detroit soon after, building it into Michigan's largest piano and music retailer, with dozens of branch stores across the state and beyond. In 1908 the firm opened its grand six-story flagship on Woodward Avenue, designed by architect Albert Kahn and clad in white terra cotta, selling pianos, sheet music, records and instruments to generations of Detroiters. Baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams worked at a Grinnell's store in the late 1940s and used his staff discount to buy his first baritone saxophone there, the instrument that launched his career. Competition from department stores and changing retail habits eventually caught up with the chain, and Grinnell's went bankrupt in 1981, closing its stores for good. The Woodward Avenue building stood vacant for years until developer Bedrock bought and restored it in 2019, replacing its long-lost cornice and reopening it with offices and street-level shops.
- Flagship store designed by Albert Kahn, opened in 1908 on Woodward Avenue
- Once Michigan's largest music and piano retailer, with dozens of branch stores
- Pepper Adams bought his first baritone saxophone here with his staff discount
- The chain went bankrupt in 1981
- Building restored by Bedrock in 2019, now offices and retail
Famous Detroiters
Famous people tied to this place 1
Lexicon entries for the people who lived, worked, performed or liked to spend time here.
- Pepper Adams 1930–1986 · jazz baritone saxophonist, composer
Worked here
Detroit music retailer where he worked and bought his first baritone saxophone with the staff discount.
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
Events at this place
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We have no published upcoming events linked to this place yet. That does not mean the venue has no events; check its official calendar too.
Source and former website ↗